Chapter 1: The Death Game
I live in a small house. We have a room for my mother, a room for my sister, and a room for me. We have two bathrooms and we live on one total floor. My mother is working for most of the day, so I am the one taking care of my sister and getting food to put on our table. I stared up at the ceiling in my room, watching the fan as it slowly turned counter clockwise. The school year had just ended, and I was tired from a hard year. I wanted to fall asleep, but I knew Syia, my sister would be home from her school day soon. I changed my clothes from my uniform into something more comfortable. I struggled getting into my tight jeans, despite being very skinny. I put on a belt and pulled a light gray t-shirt over my head. I grabbed my brown jacket that was layered with thin leather and walked outside my room. I could see my sisters room in front of me, and my mother's room was down the hall next to the first bathroom. I turned a right and walked into the main room. I sat down in front of my computer and put on my headset. I sighed as I turned on my game, I had some time to kill so I thought I would load it up. "World of Warcraft: Legion" The words appeared on my screen as I logged in with my information. I've been playing this game for almost seven years. I only play it now to pass the time, I'm not as hardcore as I used to be despite knowing the best kind of routes to level and quest because I've been playing for so long. I logged into my main character and one of my guild mates saw that I got online and decided to give me a call online. I picked up the call and after some time we got into the Darkheart Thicket dungeon.
"Yo Arin," I turned on my mic like I do everytime before I talk.
"Whats up?" I said while leaning back in my chair.
"You pre-order the full dive virtual reality gear yet?" My guild mate was eating something as he spoke, but I could tell what he said.
"Nah man." I said as we had just killed the second boss. "That stuff is crazy I don't think I could play it." I thought about the new technology that had just been released. A full dive virtual reality system. Blizzard was really upping their tech this year. World of Warcraft had been out for about 13 years so I could see that they'd take this step for their company. I would like to play the new version of the game, but our family is poor. The dungeon was almost over and I kept thinking about the virtual reality. How would it feel? Would it feel real? My thoughts were broken by my guild mate.
"Hey bro I gotta go, this dungeon was fun but I gotta get some homework done. Maybe I'll see you online or in the summer, If not I'll always see you next year in school."
I sighed as I responded. "Please don't remind me I'll have to go to school again."
"Well, at least we will both be juniors, and we can make fun of all the freshman." he laughed as he said this and I smiled a little.
"Cya around." he said one last time before hanging up. I logged off the game shortly after and sat up from my computer seat. Syia is going to be hungry when she gets home. I thought to myself while walking into the kitchen that was just to the left of my computer chair. I cared for Syia, she was really the only one around these days. I kept to myself and stayed inside for most of the days. I had very few friends at school, however I exercised quite a lot in the garage, and I played my guitar with the guys as well. That consisted of my day. I was thinking about all this while cutting up an apple. I felt my phone buzz in my back pocket. I took it out opened it. It was my mother. I answered it quickly.
"Hey mom!" I exclaimed quite excited because I haven't seen her in a few days. "Whats going on?"
"Arin listen to me." her voice was stern and I could tell she was upset. "Is Syia home?" I instantly thought the worst but shrugged off the thoughts because I did not know what she was talking about.
"No mom, she should still be on her bus." I replied calmly. "Is she okay?" I asked still worried for one of my only family members.
"She should be okay as long as she's on her bus." my mother's voice became slightly panicked. "Just get there before she gets off her bus. I have to go now Arin I have a meeting."
"Mom wait!" but she already hung up. Alright I guess I better leave now. I thought to myself as I slipped into my combat boots and tied them up. I grabbed my wallet and keys, then I locked the front door as I slipped out of my house. Syia will be fine. I kept telling myself that nothing was wrong. My mother was never really upset, I just thought she was worried about work. As I made my way to the end of the cul de sac we lived on, I could see the stop sign that Syia stopped at. A man was there, wearing black glasses and a suit and tie. He looked friendly, and had no hair. I walked right up next to him and didn't say a word. I've made it to Syia's bus stop so I shouldn't be upset anymore.
"You waiting for someone too?" the man had taken his sunglasses off and he looked at me and smiled.
"Yeah." I said. "My younger sister, she's 13 so normally she could walk home by herself but my Mom told me I should go get her."
"Ah I'm waiting for my daughter." he said in a more serious tone. "She got in trouble at school today and I'm waiting for her to come home." My heart skipped a beat when he said this. Syia only had two other boys at her bus stop. No girls. I was instantly suspicious.
"Well good luck with your punishment." I laughed off his comment and the bus pulled around from the corner. I waited. The bus felt like it was taking forever to crawl it's way around the street. A drop of sweat fell from my long hair and I prepared myself. The bus came to a stop. The two twins who were Syia's bus mates got off and they were quarreling about something. Syia got out, her black hair blew in the wind and I took my hands out of my pockets. Syia was of japanese descent, we adopted her when she was a baby. She didn't remember anything before us, however she knows she was adopted. She was very skinny and she would almost always be sick with something. She got off the bus.
"Syia!" The man and I both said at the same time. At this moment I got ready to hit the guy, despite my smaller size I could at least stun him. We glared at each other.
"Arin.." Syia said stopping in her tracks as the bus left. "Who is this man?"
I glared at him as Syia started walking toward our home.
"I don't know, but whoever he is he better stay away from my family, or he will regret it."
We began walking away.
"Now now Arin, don't act like you didn't see this coming." his voice was more sinister than normal.
"You're a hero aren't you Arin?" he mocked me and I still walked away with Syia in front of me.
"Don't make me call the police." I said and continued walking until Syia and I returned home.
"Arin what the hell was that?" Syia was frightened.
"Don't panic Syia. Everything is going to be okay. That could have been a friend at moms work." I said trying to get her to keep calm. "I'm going to call an officer today. So he can watch over us." She didn't buy it because she had common sense. Once she calmed down I called my mom and told her what happened while Syia ate her apple and listened to the conversation in the living room.
"I was afraid that would happen. Arin there has been some connecting kidnappings in the United States lately." my mother told me while we were on the phone. "I assume this was one of those incidents, I'll be home tomorrow, until then I want you to watch Syia." She went on to tell me that almost 46000 people went missing in the last week and there was a huge team of people that must have put these kidnappings together. Worried for our safety I kept Syia in my sight at all times. I paced around the house after hanging up with my mom. I called the police and asked for an officer. When he got here, he told us that he would stay outside our house tonight.
"Thank you officer." I said.
"You look familiar," he said raising his eyebrow. "Have I seen you before?" I usually don't get recognized.
"Maybe." I said smiling. "I'm in the band Weightless, we are headlining our own tour with a few other bands coming up." I figured that my band would be the only way someone would recognize me. We have sold posters and other merchandise before. Our band was not known well but every once in awhile someone will tell me they like my guitar playing or whatever.
"I thought I recognized you from the poster in my daughters bedroom. Your choppy auburn hair gives it away." he chuckled and I asked if they would like tickets for our next show. He said that'd be a great gift for his daughter. I laughed and had him sign a paper so he would be on our VIP list. We only tour in the summer because of school. June, July, and August I'll be missing home and on tour all around the United States. He went to sit in his car and watch our house for the next few nights. It was getting dark soon, but the guys were coming over to practice a new song we've been working on. I told the officer and he said he might come watch. I walked back inside the house and put on some cartoons and had Syia in my peripheral vision. The door from my house to my garage opened.
"Arin!" Said a voice. That was definitely Mikey. I thought to myself. Mikey was our rhythm guitarist. "We're all here! Get your ass out here!" I laughed and turned off the TV and brought Syia outside with me. I was the youngest in my band. They were all 2 or 3 years older than me. We began to set up the drumset and the officer got out of his car to come watch. Syia sat in a chair in the driveway and so did the officer. I tuned my guitar and plugged it into the amp. I played one power chord and we started practicing a song. The vocalist, Austin did most of the writing with me. I sung some backup vocals as well as played lead guitar. We played the new song called "My Love is Your Crime". I like this song because I got to sing the bridge and hit a high C note. After a few more songs were played we put our instruments down. Everyone sounded great. I walked inside to grab everyone some water, when I walked back outside they had a pizza with them, I rolled my eyes, I knew that they were going to order Pizza with Mikey here. We ate pizza and drank water and soda. We had a good time and got along very well.
"Hey Arin you still playing that game?" Noah, the drummer, asked me.
"Every once in awhile." I laughed.
"Come on that game is so old. Overwatch is where it's at now." he made fun of me and we laughed about it. Austin stood up, his sleeveless shirt now soaked because Mikey spilled water on him. Mikey was dying of laughter, but Austin did not look too happy. I rolled my eyes and Austin went inside my house to fix his shirt.
"Hey man!" I yelled after Austin. "Use one of my shirts in the closet."
"But you're too short." Mikey said laughing.
"Oh come on he could fit into my shirt." I replied, closing my garage door.
After some time Austin came back out wearing another sleeveless shirt of mine. It suited him well, and wasn't even that short on him. I was shorter than everyone in the band, but that was because they were older than me.
We hung out for a little while longer, and then we helped everyone get their stuff into their cars and they went separate ways. It was around 10 o'clock. We all used to play World of Warcraft together, and it was pretty fun. We locked all our doors, while the officer went to his car. Back in the house, I went into my room and changed into pajamas. I sighed, and walked back into the hallway and across the hall to Syia's room.
"You going to be okay?" I asked as I walked in. She had her earbuds in and was watching some videos on her laptop. She took an earbud out and looked at me.
"Yes, I'll be alright tonight." she seemed very restless and worried.
"If you need anything, just call I'll be right across the hall."
"Okay." she said smiling. "Oh Arin," I turned around from walking out of her room.
"What off stats would be better for playing a Warlock?" I was confused on why she asked this question. She turned around her laptop and sure enough she showed me a character of hers that she had in World of Warcraft. "Mastery or Critical Strike?" I sat next to her and laughed. "I didn't think you played this game."
"Why not? Mom payed for my account so I could play with you, but you're always busy with the guys." She was right, I've spent a lot of time with my music recently.
"Personally, I think Mastery is better for an Affliction warlock. Look, potent affliction increases the damage of your dots." I knew a lot about the game for playing it through three different expansion packs.
"Thanks Arin." she said and went back to trying to find enchants for her character. She must have been playing awhile to already be max level.
I closed her door and made my way into my room. I slid under the covers and I was absolutely exhausted. I fell asleep in less than twenty minutes.
I awoke suddenly. I began to ponder on what had happened yesterday. I looked outside my window, squinting as the sunlight filled the room. The police officer was asleep in his car. I walked out of my room and opened Syia's door. She was on her laptop as if she never slept.
"Whats up bro?" she said.
"Just woke up," I said. "We're you up all night?" I yawned.
"No silly, I just started playing about an hour ago." I laughed and left her room. I started to get changed into another outfit. Black or Gray jeans? I thought to myself. Who cares, I'm such a girl. I laughed to myself and put on some ripped gray jeans and a red shirt with my leather jacket. I put on a beanie and my boots and walked out of my room. Syia walked out of her room wearing a striped pink tank top, shorts and a gray jacket. We both laughed as we stopped in our tracks and realized we walked out of the room at the same time.
"Hey Arin," she said as we walked into the kitchen. "What class do you play?" she asked as I poured us some cereal and milk.
"I play a human Paladin." I told her.
"Cool. I used my 100 boost on a Warlock." she said. "That kind of took the fun out of the game, you know?" I agreed.
After we ate we talked back into the main room with the couch, TV, and my computer.
"Any plans today?" As I said that a chill went down my spine. The officer outside yelled "Get out!" from a distance away. A piercing sound passed our face as part of our window shattered and something went through the wall. Somebody was shooting at us. My mother was then calling my phone but I couldn't pick up. I saw a man in a suit walking up to our door. He looked right at me. I told Syia to run outside the back door and to keep running and I will be right behind her. I grabbed a baseball bat off the wall, from back when I used to play. And as our door was kicked in by the man who shot at us I smacked him with the bat in the shoulder. He yelled at me and hit me in the stomach with his other hand. I coughed and he knocked the wind out of me. I couldn't breathe very well, but I got up and went to hit him again, using one hand, so that the weight of the bat was carried by my entire body instead of just the strength in my arms. He fell to his knees and I was about to knock him out with the bat when I heard Syia.
"Arin!" she yelled out in panic and I spun around. Syia was being held at gunpoint by the bald man at her bus stop earlier. My eyes widened in disbelief, but I quickly got a cool head.
"Oh, who do we have here?" the man said. "Just a girl and her brother?"
"My mother isn't home." I retorted in a sickening manor. I felt something on the small of my back. The other guy had a gun to my back.
"Well isn't that a pleasant surprise." said the bald man as i could hear another car pull into my driveway.
"Look." I said with a cold tongue. "You can take all our money, or whatever else you want. Just let Syia go." I started to move forward and the man behind me moved forward as well keeping his gun to my back.
"Fine." the bald man said and pushed Syia so that she fell to the floor. I got to my knees and hugged her. Before I could say anything I heard one of their silenced guns go off. Syia went limp in my arms. I noticed there wasn't any blood.
"Don't worry Arin, Syia is not going to die, I just made her sleep for awhile." The panic that was filling my skin slowly began to fade. I was shaking. I was afraid. Even though I never want to admit to myself when I am afraid, at this moment, I was so afraid. The fear crawled through my skin. Despite trying to be the hero I was so scared about what was going to happen. The bald man sat at my computer and turned it on. He plugged in a flash drive. The man with the gun to my back nudged me and I got up and moved next to the bald man on my computer while still keeping my sister in my peripheral vision. I turned to look at the computer screen. Was he logging into my game? I thought to myself wondering why the screen had World of Warcraft on it.
"Wow," he said sarcastically. "Look at all these characters you have." I honestly didn't understand what the bald man was talking about, but I played a long for my sister's sake.
"I've played for seven years." I stuttered as I spoke. "What do you want from us?"
"Arin you see, I run a company called Vibrant CO." the bald man said turning toward me in my computer chair. "I've had the dream of making this." he pointed at my main character on the computer screen. "A reality." I now understood what he was talking about, I understood the kidnappings and what was going to happen.
"So you're taking people, and forcing them to play your game?" I replied.
"Precisely Arin." he said laughing. "Which is why I'm taking you." as he said this a sharp pain filled the back of my neck. The other man had shot me. I dropped to my knees, sheer willpower was the only thing that kept me from being knocked out right then and there.
"And your sister." he snarled. I kept from losing consciousness despite my blurry vision and hearing.
"Still kicking?" the other man said.
"Please." I begged them as my voice was shaking. "Leave Syia out of this please."
"Oh but Arin," he kicked me in the gut and I fell over. "She plays the game just like you do, so you both have to come and play."
"Let's play the death game." I felt myself slipping away, my mind faded to black and my body went numb. I couldn't move. No, please, I can't I thought to myself feeling absolutely powerless before my muscles gave out and I fell over. The last thing I saw was the bald man pulling out the flash drive.
I felt myself shift around, and I thought I was inside of a car. The fear that I felt was still there, even though I did not want to feel it. I opened my eyes, but I couldn't see anything. My body felt weak and I could hardly move. I started breathing heavily. I realized I was in a car, and I was being blinded from a bag over my head. My hands were tied behind my back. Where was Syia? I couldn't see anything. I could see lights through the mask. Individual lights that passed me by, as if we were in a tunnel of some sort. The car went over a bump and I heard Syia gasp for air. I knew it was her because her voice is higher and it has a signature almost piercing tone.
"Syia?" I asked, not completely sure she was awake.
"Arin I'm here, I think I'm next to you, i can't see." she said crying over her words.
"I'm here with you Syia." she moved closer to me and we went over another bump.
The car suddenly came to a stop.
"Syia they aren't going to kill us. We will be okay. I'll teach you everything when we get inside." I told her before I could explain to her what they are going to do to us.
"What do you mean inside?" she asked confused. The car doors opened.
"They're putting us inside of World of Warcraft" I told her before one of the guys ripped me from the vehicle.
"Arin!" I heard Syia call out from the other direction I was going.
"I'll find you!" Something hit me in the back of the head and a pain shot from my skull and through my spine. I blacked out.
I woke up and all I could see was a bright light. I was freezing and I noticed I was only wearing my underwear. I tried to struggle but I was too weak to move. The light faded down and I could see again. I was inside a metal chamber that went just over my shoulders. My body was weak and I was looking up at the ceiling. It was also made of metal. I was scared but I had no choice now, I hope to god that Syia is okay. I could hear a deep voice, but I couldn't make out what was being said. The bald man came into view. I scowled at him and he smiled.
"Good Luck in there Arin." I felt something pierce my arm and I must have been injected with something. He put a breathing mask over me, I was paralyzed. I took three deep breaths before the headpiece lowered onto my head and connecting into the back of my head. It did not hurt, but I felt a slight tingle. I closed my eyes and waited for this to happen. I needed to find Syia. I didn't really fight them back. I guess, maybe I want to live inside this world. Maybe it will be better for me. I felt myself fading. I fell asleep.
"Hey," a female voice that sounded quite familiar. I recognized it somehow. "Don't forget about me okay?" I couldn't speak or move. "No matter what.." I saw an image of a girl, a night elf with long ears and purple skin. Her hair was a deep violet and she wore a green night gown. She had crescent moon earrings and she looked younger than me. I knew who that was. Syia! I thought to myself, trying to call out to the image that stuck in my mind. The image slowly faded. I opened my eyes and instantly knew I was inside the game. All I could see was an empty void that was slightly tinted orange, as if something was on fire nearby. I could barely move and my body was extremely tired. I have to find Syia that was all I could think to myself, that no matter what I needed to find Syia. I looked at my hands, they looked just like mine, I wonder how the character avatars worked in this game. As of right now it seems that your avatar is very similar to your own self in real life. I felt cold. I slowly started to realize that I was actually falling. I started to move around to see what I was falling towards. A giant red and orange flaming vortex was at the bottom of my vision. I guess that is what transports me into Azeroth. I let myself fall closer and closer. I turned around and ducked my head toward the flame so I will move quicker in order to find Syia. I turned around to fall in. Just then I heard a little bell noise and a prompt asking for my name came up in front of me, just like a hologram. There was a line for the name and when I pressed it a small keyboard appeared. I decided to use the main character in my game. "Aroandus." I pressed the accept button.
"Randomizing Character." The computer said from above me. Another prompt showed up asking me to press Alliance or Horde. I was not sure which one Syia chose, but based on her personality, and the night elf I had seen for some reason, I assumed she was on Alliance. "Character: Aroandus. Race: Human." That's good I thought. It would be weird to be anything else. "Class: Warrior." the computer's voice was female. As she said Warrior, a gray short sleeve shirt appeared on my body. A yellow jacket with a collar and the sleeves cut off appeared over my shirt. Yellow pants with leather over the knees for protection materialized digitally on my legs. Finally, black boots with metal buckles to tighten the boots appeared on my feet. A warrior. Odd, I'd hope to get my main Paladin class. I'll just have to learn this one. I thought to myself while just reaching the fiery entrance to the world. A large claymore appeared on my back, and it seemed to stick there like magnets. I entered the large fire vortex and my vision turned white. I was ready. I was going to win. Despite not being too sure of the concepts, I knew that I was going to win.